Every day pray that everyone you know will either become a Christian or influence others to become a Christian, and please share this online book with others - www.areyousureyouaresaved.com
Worship music - Please click the links and sing along if you know the words (You can also click skip ad to go straight to the songs) -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmvX5pauG3k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQoCcO_aAOk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vvMPD0iwGk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LjZfjuOASs
For Wednesday evening services, the Lord has lead me to do a Bible study for practical Bible verses in Matthew. Please come back to these Bible lessons in order to review them and learn them. Whenever we have learned the meaning of Bible verses and think about them throughout each day, we will be in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3). Not only that, but when we are in a situation in our daily lives and are tempted to sin, we can think back to what we have learned from the Bible and say to ourselves, "The Bible says to not do what I am tempted to say, think, do, and/or desire right now, so I am going to refuse to give in to this temptation." This is what Romans 12:2 means, and it says, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." This is also the pattern that Jesus used when the devil tempted Him to sin in Matthew 4:1-11.
Chapter 15
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW
Matthew 15:10-20
10And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: 11Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
12Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? 13But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. 14Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
15Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. 16And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? 17Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? 18But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: 20These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
In Matthew 15:2 the scribes and Pharisees condemed Jesus' disciples for not washing their hands before they ate bread, because they claimed they sinned by going against the tradition of the elders. Jesus responded to this in Matthew 15:10-11, and He taught that eating without washing your hands doesn't make you sinful; it's what comes out of your mouth that makes you sinful. Jesus futher explained in Matthew 15:17-20 that food enters the mouth and is later expelled, but sin begins in our heart and is then acted out into things such as evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies.
While not everyone commits the same sins, we all sin. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” Coming short of the glory of God, is another word for being defiled (Matthew 15:20).
The solution to fixing our sin problem isn't trying to stop sinning through our own power; our hearts must be changed, because this is where sin begins. The way our hearts change is by trusting the blood Jesus shed on the cross to erase our sins and let us into heaven when we leave this world. Eventhough we can't stop sinning by our own effort, and trusting Jesus' shed blood is what saves us, we must be consciously or unconsciously willing to stop sinning (saying, thinking, doing, and desiring things that God hates) immediatly after we pray or make a decision to become a Christian. Without this willingness, our hearts aren't prepared to recieve Jesus as our Savior. This concept is described in these websites - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/theanswer and http://chriswaug5.wix.com/nocontridiction. If we have the idea that we aren't going to stop living our sinful lifestyle, we won't become a Christian, even if we trust Jesus' shed blood to erase our sins and let us into heaven when we leave this world. John 3:19-20 support this, "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved."
However, Christians still sin. The difference is that when they sin, they will feel really bad about it and will want God to forgive them and try their best, with His help, not to do it again (Hebrews 12:5–11). If they fail in the same way in the future, they should ask God to forgive them again and try their best, with His help, not to do it again (Hebrews 12:5–11). But if they continually fail to live the way certain Bible verses say a Christian should live, they are not bothered and upset because of it, and they are not willing to change their sinful ways, they need to pray or make a decision again to become saved. (If this describes you, please follow chapter 41 of this book - www.areyousureyouaresaved.com).
If you have prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, but you sin on purpose, please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/makingsure
If you have prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, but you are not sure you are really a Christian (Hebrews 11:6, Matthew 21:18-22, 1 John 5:14, and Hebrews 11:1), please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/howtogotoheaven
If you have never prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/howtogotoheaven